1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless apparatus or computing device as an authenticator. For example, a mobile phone user authenticator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Two-factor authentication is a security process in which a user provides two types or means of identification, one of which is typically a physical token, such as a card, and the other of which is typically something memorized, such as a security code. In this context, the two factors involved are sometimes spoken of or referred to as something a user has and something a user knows. A common example of two-factor authentication is a bank card: the card itself is the physical item and the personal identification number (PIN) is the known data, as a second factor, that goes with the bank card.
Hardware token generators can be used for 2nd factor authentication to enterprise systems. However, a hardware token generator only generates a token to be used by a user or a holder of the hardware token generator to manually supply the token for authentication. For example, a two factor authentication can require that the second factor be a “physical token,” i.e., something the user has, that can produce (i.e., display) the second factor token (such as a numeric string) that the holder of the “physical token” can enter at a terminal providing access to a sought service. However, a drawback of a hardware token generator is that a lost or stolen hardware token generator can be used to breach security or for fraud. Another drawback is requiring a user to manage an additional physical token for authentication purposes. Another drawback is multiple hardware token generators are needed for multiple authentications to different systems. Also, a hardware token generator does not adequately prevent phishing, because a two-factor authentication using a hardware token generator as the second factor is still susceptible to “man in the middle” type attacks.
Accordingly, there is a need to more securely and efficiently authenticate a user.